Scouting Report (by Casey Greer):DeliveryTazawa's deliver has been the subject of concern for many fans. His arm lags behind his shoulder through his deliver, and his follow through is fairly upright and ends abruptly. These things are not uncorrectable and shouldn't be a major concern for fans.

Tazawa lands well, which I think is one of the most important things for pitchers, and unlike many Japanese pitchers, his slightly awkward delivery is not used to mask his pitches or deceive the hitter, so mechanical changes shouldn't throw off any rhythm he has or subtract from his production.

Tazawa balances his weight well, which maximizes his velocity and movement, and also puts the least amount of stress on his arm, compared to production of velocity as is possible.

StuffTazawa features a low-mid-90s fastball, which tails in on right-handed hitters. His curve, which generally sits between 75-78 mph, is an effective offspeed pitch with sharp, late break. His slider, or possibly a shuuto, which he throws the least of all of the pitches breaks mostly down, and sits in the low-mid-80s.

Tazawa's fastball has enough movement for backdoor strikes on the outside corner, and to cause lefties to chase it out of the zone. His fastball/curve speed ratio is ideal, and will cause hitters to swing on their front foot. His slider, perhaps the most impressive pitch in Tazawa's repertoire has potential to be an out pitch in the bigs.

Pitching StyleTazawa's style is not dissimilar to that of Clay Buchholz, though he has a lesser fastball. Tazawa relies heavily on his curveball and slider, though less heavily on his slider. To go the distance in the major leagues, one mustn't rely too heavily on their breaking stuff.

Similar to fellow countryman Daisuke Matsuzaka, Tazawa is a nibbler. In the majors, this could will be a problem. Japanese baseball has notoriously large strike zones, and it has taken time for Matsuzaka to adjust; he's arguably still in the infancy of his adjustment process.

Tazawa controls both sides of the plate and changes speeds well, which is impressive at his age. It is rare to see a pitcher of Tazawa's age able to throw the high-inside strike and strike a man out looking.http://bleacherrepor...scouting-report

February 21, 2009. Tazawa, 22, is expected to begin at Double A, with some in the organization characterizing him as being at the same level as a high draft pick out of college.

Though Farrell had seen video of Tazawa before he signed, and before the righthander arrived in the United States, he had yet to watch him throw live before this week. And it seems Farrell is pleased with what he's seen.

"He's been extremely impressive with his fastball command, just routinely throwing strike after strike," Farrell said. "The one thing that we have seen in the early bullpens here [is] his curveball, which was not a pitch that he threw a whole lot of last year, more fastball, the hard curveball slurve, a slider, along with his split. But his curveball is a pitch, it's a fourth pitch for him, but I think there's the potential for more than just a kind of get-me-over type of strike breaking ball."

For now, the Sox are working on getting Tazawa settled into the program, getting him adjusted and ready for games and life in a new country. Farrell added that Tazawa's "physical abilities have been impressive."

but right now I'm just trying to figure out which type of batters swing and hit which type of pitches," Tazawa said through interpreter Masa Hoshino. "I've had some early success so far, but there's still a lot of learning left in terms of what types of batters I'm going to face.

And a nice tidbit from Tito:

"I guess I didn't quite expect him to be this polished," said Red Sox manager Terry Francona. "And again, we've only seen him a few outings. He seems to know what he's doing. His location has been pretty good. He's got the two different breaking balls that really have good spin, good depth to them. So there's some interesting weapons there. It's going to be really fun to watch his progression, because there's a lot there."

Recognizing that there is still a lot of baseball to play in Spring Training, what do you think the chances are that Junichi Tazawa could pitch his way onto the Major League club without ever spending a day in the Minors?-- David B., Ohio

Could he? Yeah, he probably could. But would that put Tazawa in the best position to succeed? Absolutely not. As it is, he is going through the culture shock of being in the United States for the first time. Also, he has never faced a professional hitter in a meaningful situation before. And with the pitching depth the Red Sox have, from the Major League roster all the way down to their top Triple-A prospects, there is no reason to do this.

I think Tazawa is in the perfect situation where he can progress at his own schedule, and as soon as the Red Sox feel he is ready to help them win, he will get called up. My best guess is that midway through the 2010 season, he could start to play a steady role in the Major Leagues. The Red Sox have definitely been impressed with his poise and his stuff thus far. There's no reason to stall that momentum by asking him to do too much too soon.

It`ll be amazing if the Sox end up with two-fifths of their rotation from Japan. Someone in international scouting will definitely be due a nice bonus/raise!

Why? Matsuzaka has been a nice signing, but it's not like he was a scouting miracle. He was a highly touted player that the Sox outbid everyone else for. The person who deserves the most credit for Matsuzaka is the guy who decided that $50M was what it would take to win the auction for his rights.

Tazawa is similar. It'd be like saying Tampa's scouts deserve credit for drafting David Price even though he was the consensus best pitcher in the draft. That's a little more extreme than Tazawa as there are scouts who aren't high on Tazawa, but when you are paying a guy a several million dollar signing bonus as an amateur, he's supposed to become a major league player.

I'm not trying to say that our Asian scouts aren't good at their jobs. But, I don't think especially Matsuzaka, and to a lesser degree Tazawa are guys that the scouts get extra credit for.

IMO Oki has been a damn good RP and a great relative value for the team. Whoever went out on the limb for that guy for whatever reason made a helluva decision.

Yep. And not to pile on JakeRae, but this isn't at all like Price, who was drafted at the top of round 1 - the Sox made a commitment to all three of these guys that any team could have made (well, maybe not "any team" if you factor in the $50M in posting fees, but I think the point is there...)

I think the scouts absolutely deserve credit for the Sox signing Daisuke, along with everyone in the organization who evaluated him and recommended a monster contract. They made a presentation to the owner of the team that a young pitcher who had never played professional ball in the US was worth over $100 million after posting fees and the contract, and it looks like they were right. Just because the ownership had the money doesn't mean the scouts don't deserve credit. Who gets blamed for Barry Zito's contract? The GM and scouts who thought it was a good deal, or the ownership group?

More on topic, the early reports on Tazawa seem very encouraging. I read a few evaluators say they thought he was more of a bullpen guy than a guy who would be in a major league rotation. It's still way to early to know, but there appears to be more upside that what some have reported.

And from everything I've read, the Sox were not even the high bidder on Tazawa. The Sox got him because he wanted to be on the same team with Dice-K.

To be fair, I don't think it was just Dice-K, but also Oki and the fact that there are a lot of staff, a manager, and a catcher that speak Japanese or at least some. I also think the quality of their player development system translates to Japanese players pretty well. Tazawa did pick the Sox over a higher bidder, the Rangers right? Dice-K was certainly major attraction, but I think there were other significant factors that influenced his decision to sign with the Sox. Plus can you blame him for not taking the largest amateur bid? If the decision costs him a couple M in the short term, but increases his chance for success, he most likely increases his earning potential over the long term.

I got a chance to see Tazawa pitch today in Ft. Myers. The run he gave up in 2 innings was the result of a single followed by an excuse-me double. His fastball seemed to have good velocity and movement. And he threw more offspeed pitches than I would expect for someone his age. He seemed very comfortable throwing offspeed pitches. He really looked terrific - impressive performance.

To be fair, I don't think it was just Dice-K, but also Oki and the fact that there are a lot of staff, a manager, and a catcher that speak Japanese or at least some. I also think the quality of their player development system translates to Japanese players pretty well. Tazawa did pick the Sox over a higher bidder, the Rangers right? Dice-K was certainly major attraction, but I think there were other significant factors that influenced his decision to sign with the Sox. Plus can you blame him for not taking the largest amateur bid? If the decision costs him a couple M in the short term, but increases his chance for success, he most likely increases his earning potential over the long term.

Yeah, the four strikeouts had me really excited. I know it's spring training, and early in spring training at that, so hitters are still getting their timing back, working on getting their bat speed back up and generally just shaking off the rust... but seeing him strike guys out is definitely a good sign.

I'm hopeful that this could turn out to be a great signing in a couple of years. It'll be interesting to see if he can pass Bowden on the depth chart by next season.

Why? Matsuzaka has been a nice signing, but it's not like he was a scouting miracle. He was a highly touted player that the Sox outbid everyone else for. The person who deserves the most credit for Matsuzaka is the guy who decided that $50M was what it would take to win the auction for his rights.

Tazawa is similar. It'd be like saying Tampa's scouts deserve credit for drafting David Price even though he was the consensus best pitcher in the draft. That's a little more extreme than Tazawa as there are scouts who aren't high on Tazawa, but when you are paying a guy a several million dollar signing bonus as an amateur, he's supposed to become a major league player.

I'm not trying to say that our Asian scouts aren't good at their jobs. But, I don't think especially Matsuzaka, and to a lesser degree Tazawa are guys that the scouts get extra credit for.

But why not? It's been published that Sox followed him for YEARS (back in his legendary high school tournament days) so it's not like Sox jumped on a bandwagon. In fact, Sox has constantly been rated as one of the top presences in Japan, and to a degree, other parts of Asia.

Plus, the scouts made their reports and the FO decided that he was worth the 50mil+ posting fee -- can't take any credit away from Dice-K even if he was the top Japanese recruit.

Sox scouts get a ton of credit at least from this poster to give a very healthy competition to the Yankees as the team to play AND to root for in Japan. And partly because of that, Korean daily papers have more Sox news than perhaps anyone else but the Yankees as well.

But why not? It's been published that Sox followed him for YEARS (back in his legendary high school tournament days) so it's not like Sox jumped on a bandwagon. In fact, Sox has constantly been rated as one of the top presences in Japan, and to a degree, other parts of Asia.

Plus, the scouts made their reports and the FO decided that he was worth the 50mil+ posting fee -- can't take any credit away from Dice-K even if he was the top Japanese recruit.

Sox scouts get a ton of credit at least from this poster to give a very healthy competition to the Yankees as the team to play AND to root for in Japan. And partly because of that, Korean daily papers have more Sox news than perhaps anyone else but the Yankees as well.

I don't give Red Sox scouts credit for landing Matsuzaka just as it wouldn't have been there fault if some other team had. Every team in baseball thought Matsuzaka was a prodigious talent. The reason he is a Red Sox as opposed to a Met or a Yankee is simply that the Red Sox submitted a larger posting bid. They did a better job of guessing what other teams would bid and outbid them. It was not that we thought he had more talent than other MLB teams or that he was worth more, it was that we did a better job of guessing other teams actions vis a vis the posting bid process.

I give the Sox FO a ton of credit for deciding that becoming more influential in Asia and being willing to pay for Matsuzaka was a priority. We've already seen dividends from that in the Tazawa signing (if the reports of him taking significantly less to play in Boston are accurate). I also think our Pacific rim scouts have done a very good job. I just see Daisuke as much more an example of the FO deciding he was a priority than our scouts providing us with opinions that were of great value (since, in this case, they coincided with the opinion of every other scout in baseball).

I guess I just don't see scouts as being overly valuable in determining the value of a player with as large a performance track record as Matsuzaka had.

I don't give Red Sox scouts credit for landing Matsuzaka just as it wouldn't have been there fault if some other team had. Every team in baseball thought Matsuzaka was a prodigious talent. The reason he is a Red Sox as opposed to a Met or a Yankee is simply that the Red Sox submitted a larger posting bid. They did a better job of guessing what other teams would bid and outbid them. It was not that we thought he had more talent than other MLB teams or that he was worth more, it was that we did a better job of guessing other teams actions vis a vis the posting bid process.

I can't follow your logic here. If we bid more, it's because we thought he was worth more than other teams did

As for Tazawa, I think the Japanese team in future WBCs would be hesitant to utilize him since he completely spurned their leagues. So that may save the Sox some headaches in future sessions

I can't follow your logic here. If we bid more, it's because we thought he was worth more than other teams did

No it didn't, it could mean that they believed he'd sign for less money than other teams did. If the other teams were assuming they'd need to give him $80M or so on top of the posting fee to get him to sign, they would have valued him about the same.

I don't give Red Sox scouts credit for landing Matsuzaka just as it wouldn't have been there fault if some other team had. Every team in baseball thought Matsuzaka was a prodigious talent. The reason he is a Red Sox as opposed to a Met or a Yankee is simply that the Red Sox submitted a larger posting bid. They did a better job of guessing what other teams would bid and outbid them. It was not that we thought he had more talent than other MLB teams or that he was worth more, it was that we did a better job of guessing other teams actions vis a vis the posting bid process.

I give the Sox FO a ton of credit for deciding that becoming more influential in Asia and being willing to pay for Matsuzaka was a priority. We've already seen dividends from that in the Tazawa signing (if the reports of him taking significantly less to play in Boston are accurate). I also think our Pacific rim scouts have done a very good job. I just see Daisuke as much more an example of the FO deciding he was a priority than our scouts providing us with opinions that were of great value (since, in this case, they coincided with the opinion of every other scout in baseball).

I guess I just don't see scouts as being overly valuable in determining the value of a player with as large a performance track record as Matsuzaka had.

So scouting had no say in what the value of the player was? They bid more that everyone else just ebcause they guessed what everyone would bid and then beat it by miles.Not because the scouts and management came to a view on the value of Dice-K together and that's the number they put in? It was nothing to do with scouting.Scouts just say, get this guy no matter what? PErhaps their voices are remove and they use a romanesque thumbs up or down?

You have to give the scouts praise for helping convince management he was worth 100mm. Sure if he's have been available like Oki for free that's all scouts. But if Oki was being bid on by everyone and the Sox beat everyone else suddenly it would be nothing to do with scouts?Clearly it's not just scouts, but you don't bid as much as the Sox did because he had good numbers.

• Rangers GM Jon Daniels says he "marvels at what the Red Sox have done in Japan. We offered Junichi Tazawa $7 million and they signed him for $3 million. They have made a huge impact in that country." Farrell says, "Tazawa is our biggest surprise. I had no idea he was this good." Scouts who have seen Tazawa think if he were in the draft, he'd be a mid-first-round pick." And some Red Sox staffers think he will be better than Matsuzaka.

It does definately seems to be true that something made him want to pick the Sox, despite likely having stiffer comeptition for a rotation spot, so big kudos on the pitch. I suspect the Japanese links plus a lot of good things the farm system does for development and health are a factor.

The gammo-ism that some Sox people think he'll be better than Dice-K is the stuff that makes everyone call him a homer.

that confirms what the Japanese press reported at the time: old thread

Given the huge differences in contract lengths (3.3/3 versus 7/5, assuming the earlier report was correct and assuming Daniels isn't rounding up for them the way he rounded down for us), it's a smaller discount than it looks -- the difference between 1.4/1 and 1.1/1. It isn't even a discount at all if he manages to get a 3.7/2 contract at the end of this one (or the proportionate equivalent).

It could reflect a willingness to take a salary hit to reap perceived non-salary benefits of playing in Boston, or it could just reflect a Papelbon-esque approach to salary risk. Presumably it's some combination of the two.

Given the huge differences in contract lengths (3.3/3 versus 7/5, assuming the earlier report was correct and assuming Daniels isn't rounding up for them the way he rounded down for us), it's a smaller discount than it looks -- the difference between 1.4/1 and 1.1/1. It isn't even a discount at all if he manages to get a 3.7/2 contract at the end of this one (or the proportionate equivalent).

It could reflect a willingness to take a salary hit to reap perceived non-salary benefits of playing in Boston, or it could just reflect a Papelbon-esque approach to salary risk. Presumably it's some combination of the two.

Unless he makes the majors coming out of camp this year (not happening) he will end up making minimum at least one year of his contract. He will make less (maybe a half million probably closer to a million) than he would in Texas. He simply loses guaranteed money no matter which way you slice it.

Should we bring up Tazawa sooner? He pitched another great game today -- 2.0 IP, 0 ER, 1.29 ERA (lower than Papelbon's 3.00 ERA, Saito's 1.50 ERA, and Okajima's 3.86 ERA). Granted it's spring training, he's 22, he could use the development time, etc. But he's looking good.

Should we bring up Tazawa sooner? He pitched another great game today -- 2.0 IP, 0 ER, 1.29 ERA (lower than Papelbon's 3.00 ERA, Saito's 1.50 ERA, and Okajima's 3.86 ERA). Granted it's spring training, he's 22, he could use the development time, etc. But he's looking good.

What do you mean, "sooner"? He absolutely should go try and start in the minors if they think he can be good at that, too. If he's outstanding and they need an arm in the pen for the home stretch, they can always recall him then. He's already on the 40 man roster so it is certainly within reason that he could debut this year.

What do you mean, "sooner"? He absolutely should go try and start in the minors if they think he can be good at that, too. If he's outstanding and they need an arm in the pen for the home stretch, they can always recall him then. He's already on the 40 man roster so it is certainly within reason that he could debut this year.

I can't see Tazawa starting anywhere but AA, with a full year down there to face better competition but not get the SSS ST results ahead of themselves.

The little I saw of him on NESN was very impressive, most of all his maturity on the mound. Score another one for the Sox' Japan scouting program.

Has anyone heard whether the Sox plan for Tazawa to be a starter long-term? I thought that was the case, but I haven't heard anyone talk it specifically. His appearances have only been one or two innings so I assume that they are just bringing him along slowly.

Has anyone heard whether the Sox plan for Tazawa to be a starter long-term? I thought that was the case, but I haven't heard anyone talk it specifically. His appearances have only been one or two innings so I assume that they are just bringing him along slowly.

The only thing Ive seen is slightly dated (Dec 4):

Tazawa is expected to begin next season in Double-A Portland, where he will be groomed for a spot in the rotation, but could soon join the big club.

"He projects to be very versatile, but we're going to start him off as a starting pitcher," Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein said. "We'll certainly give him every chance to start."

That was from the article announcing he had signed. It is strange that he hasnt been pitching longer outings... perhaps they plan to keep him in extended ST for awhile to let him acclimate to the US and avoid the coldest weather?

You guys are reading too much into the lack of extended work for Tazawa. He isn't going to make the team out of ST so he isn't going to get more than 1 or 2 innings at a time. The guys you will see get 4 or 5 innings (usually determined by pitch count) are the guys you plan on using out of your rotation right out the gate. That is Beckett, Lester, Matzusaka, Penny, Wakefield, Masterson and Buchholz. Maybe they'll extend his pitch count in one of minor league games.

Tazawa looked very sharp today. He threw 2 scoreless inning with 2 Ks and 2 hits. He brought his spring ERA down to a shiny 1.00. This is the first time that I've got to see him pitch and I have to agree with Farrell's assessment, he seems much more polished than I expected from someone in their first season of professional baseball. He seemed to have a lot of poise on the mound.

I still think he should start in AA, but he seems to be a lot further along in his development than what I was anticipating.

Not surprisingly, after his first camp in which he only gave up one run and had a 10:1 K:BB ratio, both Tito and Farrell had extremely positive words on Tazawa's performance.

Tito:

“Lights out,” Terry Francona said.

“You’ve got to get a bunch of hits to score off him,” Francona said. “You steal on him, and he doesn’t walk anybody.”

Farrell:

“He’s one of the most impressive things this entire camp,” pitching coach John Farrell said last week. “Not just from his physical abilities and the way he’s gone out there, but the way he’s handled himself in and around the entire spring training – the early bullpens, and really in early BP, when he was facing hitters in our lineup. He doesn’t back away from any challenges. He doesn’t become tentative. I think his natural confidence in his own ability has been very impressive.”

Another tidbit I found interesting was that Tazawa has a 1.1 second delivery to the plate. That is good for the fastest among all Red Sox pitchers.

Junichi Tazawa, Red Sox right-handed pitcher. This was the biggest surprise of the spring. Signed out of an industrial league in Japan, the 22-year-old shocked people with his stuff, command (he threw one ball per inning in his last two minor league starts). "He'd have been in the top six to 10 in this June's draft," says one scout, "and his feel might have moved him him into the top five."

“Of course CC Sabathia will be a major contributor to the Yankees this season, but one NL scout said, “for the $158 million difference, [22-year-old]Junichi Tazawa might have been the most important long-term signing of this offseason. Seven years from now, Tazawa will be 29, have four prime years of his career performed for less than one year for Sabathia. CC will be 36 [in 2016].”

There is an article in the upcoming volume of the Columbia Law School Journal of Law and the Arts concerning the tampering prohibition and agreements between American and foreign sports league that I thought might be of interest to some readers of this thread. It is by Professor Lewis Kurlantzik.

Question: Do we control Tazawa under normal arbitration rules after his contract expires? Do we get the full 6 years here or is he a full FA after he's done with this 3 year commitment?

I ask because it could be a factor in the team's decision to bring him along quickly or slowly. If we have full rookie control of Tazawa the team has no incentive to hurry at all and even has perhaps a financial incentive to take it slow. Otherwise we're burning valuable time with every minor league start.

Delcarmen got the loss after giving up three hits, two walks, and two runs in 1 inning yesterday vs. the Mets. Meanwhile Tazawa threw a second game in a row with one ball (not walk -- ball) per inning. Why not replace Delcarmen with Tazawa? If your life were on the line, who would you want pitching in relief?

The AL East is incredibly competitive this year. The division and wild card may be decided by only one game. Every game counts, even at the beginning of the season. So why have Delcarmen (4.61 ERA) instead of Tazawa (sub 1.00 ERA)? I'm all for development, but a pitcher who throws one ball per inning is developed enough to win.

Question: Do we control Tazawa under normal arbitration rules after his contract expires? Do we get the full 6 years here or is he a full FA after he's done with this 3 year commitment?

I ask because it could be a factor in the team's decision to bring him along quickly or slowly. If we have full rookie control of Tazawa the team has no incentive to hurry at all and even has perhaps a financial incentive to take it slow. Otherwise we're burning valuable time with every minor league start.

I believe we do control him per normal arb rules. I dont recall hearing anything otherwise, and the other option would have been a "team can't offer arb" clause in his contract.

There is a clock running, though - he got a major league deal and was placed on the 40 man so we're already using one option year in 2009. This means he will most likely have to stay up in 2012, as he would be out of options. If we never call him up before then we could potentially get a 4th option year, but it seems pretty certain he will see time in MLB before then.

Delcarmen got the loss after giving up three hits, two walks, and two runs in 1 inning yesterday vs. the Mets. Meanwhile Tazawa threw a second game in a row with one ball (not walk -- ball) per inning. Why not replace Delcarmen with Tazawa? If your life were on the line, who would you want pitching in relief?

The AL East is incredibly competitive this year. The division and wild card may be decided by only one game. Every game counts, even at the beginning of the season. So why have Delcarmen (4.61 ERA) instead of Tazawa (sub 1.00 ERA)? I'm all for development, but a pitcher who throws one ball per inning is developed enough to win.

Edit: Delcarmen's spring ERA is 4.61 not 4.31.

Because Delcarmen is a very good reliever. Why are you judging guys based on a few innings in spring training? MDC has a career ERA+ of 134, and in the last two seasons it's been 232 and 141. That's damn good. His H/9 have been 5.7 and 6.7, his BB/9 remained at 3.5, and his K/9 has been 8.4 and 8.7. You're talking about removing a reliever with a career ERA of 3.49 over 180 IP from the bullpen in favor of a guy who hasn't thrown a significant major league inning in his life. That's just lunacy.

Delcarmen got the loss after giving up three hits, two walks, and two runs in 1 inning yesterday vs. the Mets. Meanwhile Tazawa threw a second game in a row with one ball (not walk -- ball) per inning. Why not replace Delcarmen with Tazawa? If your life were on the line, who would you want pitching in relief?

The AL East is incredibly competitive this year. The division and wild card may be decided by only one game. Every game counts, even at the beginning of the season. So why have Delcarmen (4.61 ERA) instead of Tazawa (sub 1.00 ERA)? I'm all for development, but a pitcher who throws one ball per inning is developed enough to win.

Edit: Delcarmen's spring ERA is 4.61 not 4.31.

Spring ERAs are not a very good indicator of anything and I'm not sure when balls per inning became a meaningful statistic, not that any statistic would be meaningful over a span of two outings. With that being said obviously Tazawa has demonstrated great control and surpassed everyone's expectations.

If your life was on the line phrase doesn't really apply either, we are talking about winning ballgames. Delcarmen is the fifth or sixth option out of the pen, so he shouldn't be pitching when the game is on the line. In addition, Delcarmen has been an effective big league reliever and better than what any other team has near the back of their pen.

To directly answer your question, the reason why you don't replace Delcarmen with Tazawa is because of Tazawa's upside (aside from the fact he hasn't thrown a professional inning). It doesn't make sense to put Tazawa in the back of the pen when he could be being developed as a starter with the potential of being a very, very good one.

Tazawa hasn't pitched in america before and is a potential good quality starter, putting him in the bullpen over a very solid reliever due to a couple of spring training innings.

If you think Manny Delcarmen is no good read more and watch more, posters have already posted all the stats you need in this very thread. If he was a number 2 or 3 guy most teams would be happy he's not so be very happy.